Hypothetically Speaking
by Eien.Rain
Summary: Set after New Moon...Edward's way of getting Bella to accept his proposal of Marriage. BxE


"Bella, be rational. If you love me, you'll marry me, right? Isn't that how it goes?"

"Yes, it is, but…. I'm eighteen, Edward! That's _way_ too young for marriage! Charlie, Renee…..What will they say? What will _I_ say to _them_? 'Hey, Mom, Dad, I'm getting married to Edward Cullen, just so you know, and then I'm off to turn into a vampire'?"

"Sounds good to me," Edward replied innocently. "Let's go tell 'em the news."

"No!" I glared. "There is no news to tell!"

"Really? I would say that our engagement would be rather important news."

"We are not engaged!" I cried, still glaring at him as he sat in the old rocking chair in the corner of my bedroom.

"So you entirely reject my proposal?" Edward asked, hurt sounding real and unbearable in his velvet-soft voice. Cheater. "I want to get married _someday_—not necessarily right away. You still won't marry me, even ten years from now?"

"I never said that," I said quietly. "I want to marry you, just..." I trailed off, grimacing.

"Not yet," Edward finished for me. I stared at the quilt lying on my bed, suddenly becoming very interested in one of the flowers in the pattern.

"Yeah….not yet," I said nervously. Edward had ways of making me change my mind, and other ways of making me deeply regret anything I could say. "_Tampering with memories_", as he called it, was undoubtedly his favorite Choice, and definitely the most effective. He had used that method twice now—"It's for special occasions," he had winked—The first time being when his family had played baseball- the night we first met James, Victoria, and Laurent. The second time was shortly after we returned from Italy, and he had "convinced" me to attend a school dance. I hoped that he wouldn't resort to that method, even if, deep down, I actually enjoyed it more that I should. (**A\N: No, that dance thing was not in the book _New Moon_, but I couldn't remember if Edward had used that "method" any other times, and so added my own.)**

The other way was to show me logic—exactly why I should and shouldn't do whatever, and therefore making me opinion seem small and quite pointless—and he and used it every other time.

"Alright, then, only two months until our graduation, and then _Carlisle_ will change you." He said airily, looking out my window. It was, ironically, twilight.

"By the way," he spoke again, "what are you going to say to Charlie? You'll take around three days to complete the transformation, and when you return, you'll be a vampire. How are you going to talk to him?"

I was silent for a second. I hadn't really thought of this. "I'll say I'm staying the weekend over with Alice. And then….I'll figure out _something_ to say."

"How about, 'Hey, Mom, Dad, I'm getting married to Edward Cullen, just so you know, and then I'm off to turn into a vampire'?" he quoted, grinning.

"Very funny," I stuck my tongue out at him, feeling like a spoiled little child, and he laughed. He stood up and sat next to me on the bed, wrapping his stone arms comfortably around me.

"Yes, it was, wasn't it?" he smiled into my hair. "You smell very good. Different, but still amazing. Still like freesia, but also… Vanilla?"

"It's a lotion Charlie got for me," I shuddered in his grasp as he laid his head on my shoulder, dizzyingly close, his marble cheek placed comfortably at the base of my throat.

"Really? So I guess I'll have to get used to this scent, too?" Edward asked, inhaling again.

"I suppose so," I replied, trying—and failing—to sounds natural. "Too bad, huh?"

"Not at all," Edward said happily. "In fact, I may like this scent even more."

"Then I'll just have to change it again. To one you hate." I was trying not to panic as he slowly kissed my cheek.

"You oculd never have a scent that I wouldn't like." Edward replied, his voice not showing a fraction of the hyperventilation I was trying to avoid. It was if he weren't affected by me in the slightest! "Oh, wait, no. Alice already told me that you smelled awful being around that werewolf. But you want to be a vampire, not a werewolf, so we'll be alright."

"Then I'll have to hang around Jake more—catch his scent, like before."

"Don't you dare," Edward glared, and I laughed.

"Well, you can stop me, if you can't go to La Push."

"Oh, I will if I want to," he said, his voice hard.

"I was only joking. No need—"

"Bella?" Charlie's voice rang out—I jumped, but Edward remained completely still. Of course _he _wasn't surprised… "Bells, you here?" I heard his footsteps on the stairs—loud, and I once again wondered if I was that loud, in comparison to Edward's perfectly silent footfalls.

"'Bye, Bella," Edward whispered, kissing my forehead goodbye. "I'll see you later." And then he was gone.

"Hey, Bells," Charlie said, creaking my door so that it stood wide open. "You haven't cooked dinner yet… Do you want to order something?"

"I already ate, " I admitted. "Sorry. I'll fix you something to eat, if you want. Steak?"

"Ah, sure…Medium well done, how 'bout?" he said, scratching his head.

"Sure. Is there no game on tonight?" I asked, trying to keep pleasant conversation and act normal. Any "strange" behavior from me, he blamed automatically on Edward, and I didn't want to argue with Charlie tonight. I had to save energy for my plight of marriage with Edward.

"Maybe… I didn't check." He paused, and an awkward silence followed. After a moment, he asked, "It smells different in here. Really sweet. It reminds me of…_Alice_…Cullen." I knew he actually meant it was Edward's scent, but I ignored that.

"It's the new lotion you bought me," I said quickly, and he nodded slowly.

"Oh. Alright."

"Well…I'll get your dinner ready. Then I'll take a shower and get to bed, if you don't need anything…?" I raised my eyebrows, clearly indicating that I really didn't want to do anything else.

"Yeah, that's… fine. It is getting kinda late."

I led the way out of my bedroom and the down to the kitchen, and then Charlie continued into the living room, where he turned on the T.V. I heard the muffled voices of the commentators as I made dinner, roaring crowd drowning out most of all other sound.

Once I had set Charlie's dinner on the table, I made my way back to my bedroom, already dreading what I knew was about to commence. As I predicted, Edward was already spread out on my bed, prefect as ever, with a smile on his face.

"You're finally back," he said, sitting up. I smiled weakly, not wanting the previous conversation to once again come forward. "Do you need your human minute, as you said to Charlie, before we continue our discussion?"

"I knew you would be listening," I rolled my eyes, trying not to shiver. "And yes, I need my human minute. I'll be back soon." I smiled at him, and turned to grab my pajamas and leave the room, but I hadn't even turned all the way around before Edward had grabbed my wrist, twisting me back into him. He grinned and kissed my lips, the released his physical hold on me completely.

"I love you," he said, giving me my favorite crooked smile. My heart predictably skittered, and his smile widened further. "Make it a _quick_ minute."

It took all the strength I had not to faint right there, and just to make it into the bathroom. Mind in a frenzy, I hopped into the shower, letting it bring my mind back on track. I thought about staying in an extra long time, just to make Edward wait, but I knew better—he was over a hundred years old; therefore, an extra twenty minutes most likely wouldn't mean very much. Besides, the hot water ran out if you were in the shower for a little over fifteen minutes. And, to tell the truth, I don't think _I_ wanted to take the extra twenty minutes to be away from _Edward_.

After drying myself off and running a comb through my hair, I got dressed and brushed my teeth, then left the bathroom, bracing myself for the wrath of Edward.

When I reached the door to open to my room, the door swung in without me touching it, and revealed Edward. Amazing, and managing to look even more fresh than I, even though I was the one who just stepped out of the shower. No surprise there, though.

"I thought I said a _quick_ minute," he glared teasingly. "That took a half hour."

"You can't rush a hot shower," I said sagely, sitting on my bed. "Besides, you have an eternity to wait—3o or 40 minutes shouldn't really matter."

"Thirty or forty minutes matter a great deal—_especially_ when someone lie you is involved. Anything can happen in that frame of time. Or less." His tactic changed, steering back towards to conversation _he _wanted. "Let's take, for instance, a marriage proposal. Now, the actual proposal would take, what, twenty, seconds, give or take, and then, the fiancée's "yes" should come after a brief moment of contemplation—all in all, about thirty seconds. What do you say?"

I drew my breath before shakily replying, "I say you're full of it. A fiancée—or not—should spend a few _nights_ of contemplation on her answer—whether it be yes, or _no_."

"Well, Bella, we know that in this case, the fiancée will definitely choose yes, don't we?" Edward said smoothly. He was just too good at this! I didn't know how much more of this I could take before I totally cracked.

"Let's say, hypothetically, that 'Joe' was in love with 'Jane.' And, hypothetically, 'Jane' loved 'Joe.' If Joe asked Jane to marry him, and they were both of age, don't you think that Jane and Joe should be married?" I had to smile as he said this— my tactics of finding out how Edward read minds—hypothetically speaking, of course—in Port Angeles was the last thing I would've expected to pop up in this particular conversation.

"Yes, but what if Jane didn't think her parents would react well?" I asked.

"Then Joe might have to steal her away and marry her in secret," Edward grinned, but I was horrified.

"You wouldn't dare!" I tried to leave a threat in my voice, but it was hard, especially knowing that he was perfectly capable—and willing—to steal me away and elope.

"Then you'll just have to say yes," Edward reasoned. "Or that will be my choice. I don't want that Newton kid to try and flirt with you every time I'm not around."

"You're jealous?" I grinned, basking in his annoyance at my delight in the fact.

"You already knew that." He looked me straight in the eyes, and his velvet voice began to ear away my resolve. "Besides, I wouldn't _have_ to be jealous if you'd only just marry me."

"But I enjoy your jealousy. You deserve it—at least you don't have to see every waitress at every restaurant we go to flirt with you in every way possible," I reminded him. He didn't even blink.

"They wouldn't flirt if they knew I was married," he said, almost in a sing-song voice that nearly took the breath from my lungs. How in the world could I marry such a perfect person?

"Well, you aren't, so there's nothing to stop them."

"You could give them the same glare you're presenting me with right now," he suggested, crooked smile in place. I hadn't noticed I was glaring, and I quickly un-narrowed my eyes. He laughed, and planted a slow kiss on the tip of my nose. How long had his arms been around my waist? "Please, Bella?" he whispered. He was so close… his sweet breath blew across my face.

"I…" I couldn't think right. With his face less than an inch from mine, how could I? He lowered his face and began kissing my jaw, gently, ever so slowly. My mind went totally blank. "Um…"

"Bella, please marry me?" he repeated, but I lost the words the second they came out. He had raised his gaze, and now looked at me with the unyielding, intense, blazing, _smoldering_ gaze.

"I…..yeah." I didn't even realize I had spoken, but the second I did, it was way too late. Edward grinned as I widened my eyes in horror. "No! No, you cheated! No fair! I break the engagement!"

"Too late," he said, kissing my lips. "It's seems that Joe and Jane will have a happy ending after all."

"I…You--!" I couldn't bring myself to be angry with him. It was my weakness at that point. And to make matters worse, he knew it.

"Oh, come now," he said pleasantly, "Remember, you only agreed that we _will_ married. _When_ will you your decision entirely. Just remember, I wont change you until after the wedding."

"I can't get married before I graduate!" I told him. "It really would crush Charlie. I haven't been here, and all this stress…I can't leave until after school ends."

"Alright. We'll get married in the summer." Edward smiled crookedly. He got my expecting expression, and added, "And then we'll change you, of course."

I smiled. "I like that last idea. It's a good thing summer's not _too_ far away."

"That excited to get married?" he teased, hugging me again. "So, what _will_ you tell Charlie? I hope you were joking before."

"Yes, of course. Um…I'll just tell him to expect a wedding. Nothing big, nothing flashy."

"Mmhm… except for one thing."

I glanced at Edward warily. "What do you mean?" I asked darkly.

"Edward laughed, and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "I don't care what you say on this matter, Bella, _you_ are going to have a beautiful wedding ring." I looked at him, speculating, before replying,

"Perhaps."

He laughed. "Okay, human, you need your sleep. It's 11:30, and we have school in the morning."

"Stupid school. I don't want to go to Gym." I moaned, laying down as Edward pulled the blankets around me. He then laid down next to me, on top of the blankets.

"Goodnight, Sweetheart," he kissed my forehead.

"G'night," I muttered. "_Vampire_." I added- payback for him calling me "human" in place of a pet name. He chuckled, and I fell asleep to his humming of my lullaby.

My Edward, my vampire, my fiancé.

_**The end!**_

**The finish of my very first Twilight fic… Please give me your opinions! Flames are accepted, though not loved. Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!**

**Eien.Rain**


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